If the same game is available and on sale on GOG and Steam, on which platform you rather buy it?
I've had this question looking at the Quake con sale, and Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth is for sale on both platforms. I ended up buying it on GOG. What is your opinion?
Steam, but only because 95% of my library is on there. However, I think often GOG is probably the better choice.
This. I love GoG for what they do and their whole ethos, but I have damn near my entire collection already on Steam and like to condense as much as I can as hard as that may be. Steam is still by and far the best launcher, but every year GoG Galaxy gets a little bit closer to being an actual contender; literally all the rest are absolutely terrible dumpster fires.
Why is that by the way? On my PC I have Amazon, Battle.net, EA, Epic, GoG Galaxy 2.0, Itchio, Rockstar, and Uplay clients (along with some individual game launchers) and not a single one comes close to being as feature rich, streamlined, and just clearly built for the customer/player as Steam is. I know Valve has a lot more experience under their belt but it feels like the others aren't even trying. Most of them are just in your face about their store fronts and barely function as a library after the fact.
Steam as it’s more straightforward to running it on Linux.
I bought cyberpunk on gog and it’s just a bit more work to get it installed and running.
If possible, I’d exchange it for a steam copy.
Used to be GOG for DRM free games, now it's Steam because of Linux support and the Steam Deck
Ditto
Lutris makes installing GOG games with proton pretty easy. Haven't had issues on my end
Used to be GoG but now Steam. I run Linux so it's nice to have a client that makes that easy rather than having to rely on a 3rd party one.
Check out Heroic Game Launcher. It works with GoG, handles GoG Galaxy Cloud Save support, and works with Proton (similar to Steam). A very good client.
I’ve been trying to get Heroic working with my Epic account to no success.
Generally, that has been my experience with most open source solutions to closed source app gardens.
GOG. I like actually owning the games I buy
Yup. Steam is my go-to because of easy game steaming, steam deck integration, etc. But I know what I'm sacrificing for that convenience. Luckily Valve is an incredibly customer focused company and I have a huge amount of (well deserved IMO) faith in. GOG however is definitely still the best way to own your games.
I'm on Linux, so if I buy from GOG, I don't get cloud saves or automatic updates. If we had Galaxy on Linux, it would be my default store. But it's not on Linux, so I shop on Steam.
Heroic launcher handles cloud saves for GOG. You can also have automatic updates.
Neither are guaranteed by the seller though. They could change their API tomorrow and break compatibility. Unlikely though that is, if they want my sale, they can do the work themselves rather than relying on an unofficial project with hooks into their store.
When I used Windows I mainly bought on Gog for the DRM-free aspect. Now that I've switched to Linux almost completely, I find Steam's software for running Windows games on Linux to be just about the most seamless and easy to use, compared to other stuff I've tried like Lutris and Heroic Games Launcher.
Same story here. I thought Linux support would be right in line with GoG's philosophy but their stance has been understandable but a bit disappointing. Valve makes it easy for me so they get my money.
They did actually promise a native Linux client years ago. Seems they stopped caring at some point though.
Steam, because I would want to support the company that respects linux users.
GOG also offers Linux versions of any games that have such a version.
You're right, but I think OP meant almost all the games that are developed by Valve have a Linux version, meanwhile non of the games developed by CDPR has it.
Always GOG. While I've loved Steam for years and still do, I'd rather have a stronger ownership over my games.
Steam but mainly because I have a steam deck so ease of use.
I'd go steam, they games probably drm free on both and steam has a Linux client and cloud saves and workshop
Steam. I need higher Linux compatibility.
Steam for a few reasons:
I used to try to buy my games at GOG where there wasn't a significant financial difference. I liked what they were doing, especially with GOG Galaxy at the time. The pendulum swung back to Steam over time, and now I'm just not buying games any more.
GOG. DRM-free support needs all the help it can get. I have nothing but respect for Steam, so it's my secondary choice. The only exception is if it's a game that's been out for a while and there's been discrepancies between GOG and Steam support (or a dev/publisher with a history of said issues), in which case I'll go with the one that's better supported.
I've learned my lesson to never buy again from any other than Steam.
Every other launcher except GOG Galaxy are pure trash. And about a year ago I switched to Linux, so now I only buy from Steam. They make gaming better for everyone, they know it's a win-win situation.
Honestly I'm so lazy and deep into the ecosystem now if if it's not on Steam I just won't play it. There's too many things to play, and I don't care enough to bother with multiple launchers and accounts
This is exactly why I buy from both. I don't want to be one of those people who is so invested in one platform that they can't afford not to spend their money there.
GoG if possible. I'm very slowly trying to buh more from GoG as insurance from the eventual enshitification that I sadly know Steam will fall prey to.
Yeah, not a bad idea to hedge your bets. With all luck, it’s not for another long while. I know for myself, I’ll buy mostly on Steam, but if I got a game I really really like and want to preserve, I’ll get it on GoG then stash it on an external SSD. So if shit hits the fan and Valve grows devil horns overnight, I’ll at least have my favorite games sans DRM.
GOG because it's more convenient and less ableist.
Steam's colour scheme makes it difficult to read and causes eye strain and headaches for people with astigmatism, like me. The way the light text bleeds into the darkness surrounding it makes it difficult to read anything so I can't be sure of the price that I'm paying without copy/pasting it into notepad or something. When I made a thread pointing this out years ago, when they disabled the old theme system, Valve's mods banned me from the forum and deleted my thread.
I sent an email to Epic Games about the same problem in their store and got a response that could be summarized as "Don't care, go fuck yourself." so they are not a good option either. I don't like gambling so I won't use EA's virtual casino, and I want to keep the games I buy so Ubisoft's store is also not an option.
It's GOG or piracy for me.
Steam’s colour scheme makes it difficult to read and causes eye strain and headaches for people with astigmatism, like me.
The Steam Store is just a website where a user style such as https://uso.kkx.one/style/219929 can be applied like any other. Game prices are just black on white using that theme:
The Steam Client itself is largely or perhaps even fully controllable via command line (https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Command_line_options#Steam) and you can set any color scheme to your terminal as you like:
The Steam Client also supports skins since forever: https://steamcustomizer.com/
Steam may not have color schemes for all kinds of visual impairments and that's a legitimate criticism but Steam has a bag full of aforementioned features for customization, so with a little bit of research (I was curious about that myself, so I spent like 5 to 10 minutes) I found quite easy workarounds. As someone who does not like to be blasted in the face with light themes, I look for similar workarounds all the time.
That works for a browser but I would still need the client to install, uninstall, and manage game settings. Steam skins only work for a few areas of the client. Most of it will still be unreadable.
I've never had any issues with headaches, have you talked to your doctor about maybe getting a blue light filter added to your prescription? Also, you can pick a different theme for Steam as well. I'm a big fan of Metro.
It's not blue light. It's blurriness caused by the white of the text bleeding into the black. Straining my eyes to read it causes headaches. I can use light mode things with no problems.
Steam skins don't reskin most of the client anymore. I used to use a light skin similar to Metro when Steam still properly supported it.
I would 100% be buying things on GOG whenever possible -- if they had a Linux client.
Because they don't, the convenience of Steam and Proton integration generally offsets concerns I have about losing access to things if Steam ever goes under. It's a tradeoff.
Usually GOG, but now that I’m slowly switching to Linux and finding out how hard it is to run some games from GOG, I’m looking to move back onto Steam for games I want on my Linux laptop.
At the moment I pretty much only buy games on Steam. GoG has been pretty hostile to Linux over the years, whereas Valve is the only gaming focused company that robustly supports Linux on both a hardware and software level. The money I give to their platform directly supports Linux gaming and everyone directly benefits from this.
Valve is also an exceptionally rare example of a privately owned, not publicly traded company of their size. Gabe Newell himself owns a majority stake and has shown that he is more interested in running a company that can make effective long term decisions than a company that desperately suckles at the teats of short term profits and corporatocracy. As long as this stays true, Valve is in a vastly better position to resist enshittification than most big tech companies out there. Valve doesn't need to pull a Red Hat unless fundamental things change, and Gabe seems pretty happy to be in a position where he doesn't need another layer of corporate overlords.
I'd definitely prefer to have DRM free stuff, but Steam is a pretty good compromise at the moment. If Valve ever goes to shit, I'll just take steps to access the games I own in a way that is independently well supported on Linux. I suspect there will be multiple ways to do so if it ever comes to this. Proton being open source counts for a lot.
If I'm getting it on one of those platforms, it's to play it on my Steam Deck and it's more native to do it in Steam.
I also go GOG first. I like the whole DRM-free aspect.
GOG for DRM-free, unless there is a benefit to Steam. For example, Spelunky gets a daily challenge only on Steam.
Steam. It's better on Linux, and GOG isn't always DRM free anymore. Also, although most games do, Steam games don't actually have to use any DRM.
GOG for drm free. I'm always gutted when I buy on steam, but forget to check GOG and it's there.
There's probably a browser extension for that
Gog has achievements though?
GOG, because if you don't use GOG Galaxy (and you can as is not at all required and ALL games have offline installers) you never fire up a game and have to wait for Steam to update or are on vacations running it on a notebook with mobile paid data, forget to disable "cloud saves" or some stupid shit like that and run out of data.
Also GOG is 100% DRM free.
Oh, and did you know that Steam is about to switch off Windows 7 support?!
Why should games that work perfectly in older computers with Windows 7, bought and paid for because of supporting it, stop working because Valve wants to keep on controlling your usage of games you bought but doesn't want to spend money for even a basic launch clienf supporting that OS?
There is no such problem with GOG and there will never be if you download the offline installers for your games - as long as the machine works, the games will work, period.
Oh, and GOG goes out of their way yo support old games: it's in their name Good Old Games.
GOG is freedom, Steam is a golden chain.
Depends on thw game and what sort of mod support it has. Obviously on Steam if it has Steam workshop support. DRM free on GOG is good but at the same time Steam has been doing quite of lot of good things related to gaming on Linux and I would like them to continue doing it.
@root @vis4valentine is the game not DRM free on steam, too?
The fact that when you purchase a game on Steam and it gets aasociated to your account is a form of Digital Rights Mamagement. Not as bad compared to Denuvo (depending on who you ask), but it's still technically DRM, just not as intrusive.
Game purchases on GOG on the other hand, while the purchase is associated to your account, the game can be installed on all "your" computers and can be run simultaneously.
Considering pretty much all the legally obtained digital download games I have on PC come from Steam, I think it's safe to assume I'll just get the game I want from Steam.
But GOG also provides you a standalone installer, so ... you don't need steam ... if you don't want steam. Its like two for one (??)
If the price are equal then GOG, but it doesn't has local price and tend to be significantly more expensive than games on Steam.
Steam, because Valve guarantees to keep games playable even if they go out of business. Aaand I keep forgetting that GOG exists xD
I've got to say, Steam's native Wine/Proton implementation works decently well, and really entices me to buy games without native Linux support on Steam.
Steam because GOG does something to their games that makes most mods not work on them.
Gotta have my mods!
"rarbg.to" when it still existed.
GOG. I don't like steam so I try to avoid it where there's not a large price difference.
I only use GoG if it's the only option. Otherwise I'll use almost any other service if I can.
Steam, since they have regional pricing and support in my country.
Gog
I usually go with Steam because it has all the other tertiary features that may or may not be there for GOG titles. I usually only use GOG if it's the only way to get a good old game or if that's the only version that will possibly work on a modern PC. I do not even consider them for brand new games, unless I want to pirate them to demo before buying.
In your case, you just so happened to choose right. Dark Corners of the Earth on Steam has hella issues and the game may not even run. But the GOG version is just fine. I also bought that a while back after watching a review of it and getting nostalgic (since I played it on Xbox back when it was new), and thankfully he had mentioned this or I might have been screwed.
I use Steam. CDPR has burned me with several of their games and I refuse to give them money anymore.
What is GOG?
Good Old Games. They sell lots of old PC games that you can't find anywhere else and since many old games can't run in modern architecture, they will usually package the games up in a way that they can run without you having to run your own emulators or virtual machines.
They also sell modern games and have their own game library software similar to Steam except unlike Steam it is DRM free.
I use Steam mainly because I haven't found any major issues with how Valve does things overall. It's been a fairly good experience for many years. Plus, with the steam deck it's much more convenient to have on Steam.
Now, I'm thinking if the price goes low enough, I'd pick it off GoG to download the installer and store someone just in case. I like the idea of having a backup just in case.
I actually use steam to install the GoG game installers and completely bypass the heroic launcher.
In short, I hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
Gog, drm free, just works, and devs get more money.
On the other hand, death to valve and steam. The launcher itself is dogshit bloatware and I do not have a single recent memory of it being remotely pleasant to use. The download and verification speeds are absolutely awful compared to Gog and, in my limited experience, Epic. valve was definitely a pioneer in microtransactions with tf2 and csgo. Locking mods to their storefront is fucking disgusting, as was their attempt to monetize them. There is also negative quality control when it comes to what's allowed to be sold on steam.
If it's not on Gog then I'll just pirate it.
Assuming the price is exactly the same on both platforms (or even within like $10 if I'm not getting a Steam key from the GOG purchase), I'm buying from Steam every time. Mainly for the convenience of having it in my Steam library, so I can't just flat out forget that I own the game already when I finally get around to playing whatever it was, because god knows I don't immediately play straight through the vast majority of games I buy.
I buy it on steam, because downloading the individual game installer files is annoying, and GOG Galaxy never worked right for me on windows.
On Linux, however, Lutris has good GOG integration, so I can just log into my GOG account via Lutris and install literally every game I own (which I have like 100 on gog) without much issue now.
Good to know (regarding Lutris and GOG). I've always stuck with Steam because of the ease of running games on Linux).
It's a lot of extra steps, though, and for me I've got two separate Linux systems I'm generally running things on.
I don't disagree with the logic, I just wish GOG had a Linux client. It's not just about Steam Deck (even though that's driven a lot of recent Proton development) -- there are serious issues with continued reliance on Microsoft, and FOSS solutions offer gamers a way to maintain a freedom they are otherwise likely to lose. It seems like GOG would want to support that effort.
GOG but I don’t because despite my 12 game library, I can’t gift because none of the games were over $15 and if I buy a game over that then it’s a 3 month waiting period
I like Steam’s Linux push but I don’t like their support and I don’t like their monopoly